New Delhi: Retired English defender Jamie Carragher has defended his former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard over his awful performance during England’s defeat against Uruguay which virtually ended their chances to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup.

England’s elimination from the World Cup was confirmed on Friday night after Italy lost 1-0 to Costa Rica - the giant killers of the tournament so far.

Under fire from all the corners for his awful showing in England’s opening two games against Italy and Uruguay, captain Gerrard got some much needed support from his good friend and former teammate – Carragher.

Carragher wrote in his column for The Daily Mail that it is wrong to hold Gerrard guilty, particularly for the second goal scored by his another Liverpool teammate and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez.

The former England star said defender Gary Cahill is to be blamed for his schoolboyish defending, which resulted in Suarez scoring his second and winning goal for Uruguay few minutes before the final whistle in Sao Paulo.

Commenting on the second crucial goal conceded by England against Uruguay, Carragher wrote in his column: “Gerrard has been heavily criticised for his role in the game's defining moment but that is wrong. The majority of the blame must be shouldered by Cahill.”

“Let me explain. When a midfielder goes to intercept a long ball, the aim is to get in front and stop a striker collecting it on his chest or flicking it on. The midfielder's run means he will, at times, find himself underneath the ball. There is always a chance he or the striker will divert it back to goal,” he added.

“As a defender, you have to be a pessimist and expect danger to come your way. But when the ball skimmed off Gerrard's head, Cahill was the wrong side of Suarez to start with and he had banked on Edinson Cavani applying the flick-on, in which case Suarez would have been offside,” he added.

“Playing offside should be your last resort, when you are no longer in control of your opponent or the ball. When the ball was in the air, Cahill still had a chance to run back with Suarez and make a difference. It was schoolboyish, then, that he did otherwise and the ramifications were huge,” he wrote.